Fuel surcharge = (current diesel price − base peg) ÷ divisor MPG. This week's EIA national diesel average is $5.652 (week of August 24, 2026), up $0.198 in a week and $1.944 in a year. On a common $1.20-peg, 6.0-MPG schedule that is 74.2¢ per loaded mile. Check your own schedule below, and see whether it actually makes your truck whole.

Fuel Surcharge Calculator

Check a DOE-pegged fuel surcharge the way the contract computes it: current diesel price minus the base peg, divided by the schedule's MPG. Then compare what it pays against what the price rise really costs your truck.

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Thinking about factoring your loads?

The surcharge recovers fuel money on the invoice's timeline, but the pump charged you today, and a schedule that under-recovers at your real MPG widens that gap every mile. Factoring advances the invoice so the recovery lands closer to the fill-up.

The formula is simple; the assumptions are where the money moves

A DOE-peg surcharge schedule makes three choices, and each one shifts money between you and the shipper. The index decides which diesel price counts, usually the EIA's weekly national average, sometimes a regional one. The peg decides where the surcharge starts paying: everything below the peg is your problem, priced into the linehaul. The divisor decides how many miles the schedule thinks a gallon covers, and every tenth of MPG your truck falls short of it is increase you eat.

That third one is the quiet one. A 6.0 divisor against a truck really running 5.0 MPG leaves roughly fifteen cents a mile unrecovered at this week's prices: over $70 on a single 500-mile run, all of it invisible if you only ever look at the surcharge line and never at your own burn.

Where diesel sits this week

Figures are the EIA on-highway averages for the week of August 24, 2026, taxes included. The spread matters: a nationally-pegged schedule pays the same surcharge in Georgia and in California, while the pump does not.

Region	$/gallon
U.S. national average	$5.652
East Coast (PADD 1)	$5.498
New England	$5.716
Central Atlantic	$5.840
Lower Atlantic	$5.350
Midwest (PADD 2)	$5.636
Gulf Coast (PADD 3)	$5.481
Rocky Mountain (PADD 4)	$5.537
West Coast (PADD 5)	$6.407
West Coast less California	$5.859
California	$7.040

Source: U.S. EIA On-Highway Diesel Fuel Prices (weekly national average), updated every Monday. The calculator's default price is this number; if your schedule names a regional index or your contract updates on a different day, type that price in instead.

What this calculator does not model

Many published schedules are stepped tables (the surcharge moves in five-cent price bands, rounded to the cent), so your contract's table may sit a fraction above or below the continuous formula shown here. Some pay on all dispatched miles rather than loaded miles only. And none of this touches what the fuel actually costs you on a specific run: for that, put your real miles, MPG, and pump price into the truck fuel cost calculator.

Worked examples

This week's diesel ($5.652), $1.20 peg, 6.0 divisor, 500 loaded miles, truck runs 6.5 MPG The schedule pays $0.742 per mile ($371.00 across the loaded miles). At your real MPG the price rise costs $0.685 per mile, so the schedule covers it with $0.057 per mile to spare.
Same week on a $2.50-peg / 5.5-divisor schedule, per-mile figure only The schedule pays $0.573 per mile.
A thirsty truck: 5.0 real MPG against the 6.0 divisor eats the gap The schedule pays $0.742 per mile ($371.00 across the loaded miles). At your real MPG the price rise costs $0.890 per mile, so the schedule leaves you eating $0.148 per mile.

Fuel surcharge questions, answered

How is a fuel surcharge calculated?: Most trucking contracts use the DOE-peg formula: take the current national average diesel price, subtract the contract's base (peg) price, and divide by an agreed miles-per-gallon figure. The result is the surcharge per mile. At this week's national average of $5.652 with a $1.20 peg and a 6.0 divisor, that is about 74.2 cents per loaded mile. Every number in that sentence is negotiable except the diesel price, which is why the peg and the divisor in your contract matter as much as the rate.
What diesel price do surcharge schedules use?: Almost always the U.S. Energy Information Administration's weekly on-highway diesel national average, published every Monday afternoon. Some schedules use the regional PADD average instead, which matters: this week the national figure is $5.652 while California sits at $7.040; a schedule pegged to the national number under-recovers a West Coast operation by design. Check which index your contract names.
What base price and divisor are typical?: Pegs commonly sit between $1.10 and $2.50: older schedules kept the low pegs from when diesel itself was cheap, newer ones peg higher and pay a higher linehaul instead. Divisors usually run 5.5 to 6.5 MPG. Neither is standardized: a schedule with a generous-looking rate and a 6.5 divisor can pay less than a modest rate over 5.5. Run both through the calculator before signing anything.
Does the fuel surcharge actually cover my fuel cost?: Only if your truck matches the schedule's assumptions. The surcharge assumes the divisor MPG; your truck burns at its real MPG. If the schedule divides by 6.0 and you run 6.5, you pocket the difference. If you run 5.0 (winter, mountains, heavy loads), the same schedule quietly leaves you paying part of the increase yourself. That gap is the number this calculator puts in front of you, and at today's prices it can run well over ten cents a mile.
Is a fuel surcharge required by law?: No. There is no federal mandate that shippers or brokers pay a fuel surcharge, and no law that says how one must be computed. It is purely contractual, which is exactly why the formula deserves scrutiny before you sign. If a rate confirmation is silent on fuel, the linehaul rate is carrying all of the price risk, and this week that risk is moving two dollars a gallon year over year.
Does the surcharge apply to empty miles?: Usually not: most schedules pay on loaded miles only, which means the diesel you burn on deadhead comes out of your pocket at full price. If a quarter of your miles are empty, your effective recovery per gallon is a quarter lower than the schedule suggests. Some contracts do pay on all dispatched miles; it is worth asking for, especially when prices are climbing.